Monday, February 29, 2016

Crisis Chronicles Press gleefully announces the publication of Fractured Fairy Tales, a new chapbook by William Merricle, on 26 February 2016. Merricle has long been one of my favorite writers, with incomparable wit, wordplay, dark humor and insight. And this collection of 29 poem tales showcases his work at its finest. Only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Poets from all over hear (or already know) about the lively Cleveland area literary scene and look forward to coming (and coming back) as soon and as often as possible. This week is no exception, as several well-regarded out-of-state poets will be here to share their literary wares. Two of the more notable events will happen Saturday 2/27 at Mac's Backs and Sunday 2/28 at Guide to Kulchur. So whether you're an east-sider, a west-sider, or the more adventurous sort who enjoys the best of both, you have something to look forward to. It won't be the same reading twice, but it will be supremely worth your while both times. The visiting poets will include:

Jason Ryberg is the author of nine books of
poetry, six screenplays, a few short stories, a box full of folders,
notebooks and scraps of paper that could one day be (loosely) construed
as a novel, and, a couple of angry letters to various magazine and
newspaper editors. He is currently an artist-in residence at
The Prospero Institute of Disquieted P/o/e/t/i/c/s and an aspiring
b-movie actor. His latest collections of poems are Motel, Diner, Liquor
(co-authored with John Dorsey, Jason Hardung and Seth Elkins,
Spartan Press, 2014) and Beauty Parlors,Train Yards and Everything In
Between (co-authored with George Wallace, David Smith and Charly Fasano,
Spartan Press, 2014). He lives in Kansas City, Missouri with a rooster
named Little Red and a billy goat named Giuseppe.

Shawn Paveyhas delivered newspapers, mowed lawns, bagged groceries, cut meat, laid
sewer pipe, bussed tables, washed dishes, roofed houses, crunched
numbers, rented cars, worked in hotels, worn an apron at Kinko's, and
been paid to write everything from résumés to music reviews. Currently,
he earns a living as a Technical Recruiter in Mission, KS where he
lives with his fiancée and three worthless but adorable cats. He is the
author of Talking to Shadows (Main Street Rag Press, 2008) and Nobody
Steals the Towels From a Motel 6 (2015, Spartan Press), Co-founder and
former Associate Editor of The Main Street Rag Literary Journal, and a
former board member and officer of The Writers Place, a Kansas
City-based literary non-profit. His poems, essays, and journalism
appear in a variety of national and regional publications. He's hosted
poetry readings in bars, coffee shops, haunted houses, bookstores,
libraries, front porches, and abandoned warehouses. A graduate of the
University of North Carolina's Undergraduate Honors Creative Writing
Program, he likes his Tom Waits loud, his bourbon single barrel, and his
basketball Carolina Blue.

Jameson Bayles: A side effect of the military industrial complex, Jameson Bayles was
born at the hospital at Forbes Field AFB just south of Topeka, KS. By
the age of eighteen, Jameson had participated in a refueling mission
with F-16s over the skies in South Dakota, stood atop of an active
missle silo, and was the bait in a counter terrorism exercise with Air
Force Special Forces at Whiteman AFB. After watching Krist Novoselic
obtaining a head injury at the 1992 MTV music awards, Jameson decided to
pursue the path of becoming a poet and eventually crawled into a dimly
lit coffeeshop in dowtown Topeka in 1997 participating in his first open
mic. Jameson Bayles is the senior editor of Asinimali Publications
based in Kansas City, MO and the curator of The Cellar Poetry Series at
the Weston Wine Company in Weston, MO. Jameson has been published in
numerous literary journals and magazines and currently, his work can be
found in three books. “The Cataman Years”, published by Mistop
Publications, “The Artistic Muses” published by True Color Press and the
collaborative reader "A Case For Ascension" by Asinimali Publications.
Jameson resides in Kansas City, Missouri and can be reached at
jamesonbayles@gmail.com.And they will be joined by two Cleveland favorites:

Dianne Borsenik is
active in the northern Ohio poetry scene and regional reading circuit.
Her poems have appeared in Great Lakes Review, Slipstream, Rosebud, and
many others; upcoming publications include Pittsburgh Poetry Review,
Dirty Chai, and The Stars Look Very Different Today: A David Bowie
Tribute (Poems-For-All). Her poem "Disco" was chosen to be printed on
the 2015 Youngstown Summer Festival of the Arts tote bags and on Lit
Youngstown tee shirts. In 2011 she founded NightBallet Press, and in
September 2015 produced BeatStreet Cleveland as part of the
International Beat Poetry Festival. She lives in Elyria with husband
James and dog-sons Bodhisattva and Michel-Angelo. Find her at www.dianneborsenik.com.

John Burroughs was born in West Virginia, raised in Elyria, Ohio, and now lives and works in Cleveland. Along the way, he won the first poetry competition he entered as a high school student, served for several years as playwright-in-residence at Marion Correctional Institution, became a number one blogger on MySpace, won his first-ever poetry slam in his 40s, has hosted several esteemed reading series, and co-founded the annual Snoetry: A Winter Wordfest. John's poetry volumes include Beat Attitude [2015, NightBallet Press], It Takes More Than Chance to Make Change [2013, The Poet's Haven], The Eater of the Absurd [2012, NightBallet], Barry Merry Baloney [2012, Spare Change Press] and the collaborative book Oct Tongue -1 (with Weems, Swain, Smith, Lady, Chernin and Brightman). Since 2008, Burroughs has run Crisis Chronicles Press, publishing fine indie writers from around the world.

So please join us this weekend and give our visiting artists a warm Cleveland welcome!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

As much as I didn't want another Bush president, to me Jeb Bush
was the sanest, brightest and least frightening of the remaining GOP
lot. But he also had the least pizzazz. People tired (or not) of money
buying elections still want pizzazz. His exclamation point wasn't enough
for most voters.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Crisis Chronicles Press is very happy to announce the publication of xx poems by Jennifer MacBain-Stephens. This is the latest release in our Ninesense series of 9-poem chapbooks by writers you need to read.

"Clearly, MacBain-Stephens understands the texture of words, understands the need to feel them on teeth and tongue. In one poem, she writes 'We are accustomed to the language of the torso.' Her language is that of the synapse, firing off psychedelic sparks that invite, intrigue, and infiltrate."

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens went to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and now lives in the DC area. Other chapbooks are out or forthcoming from Grey Book Press, Dancing Girl Press and Shirt Pocket Press. Her first full length collection is forthcoming from Lucky Bastard Press. Recent work can be seen or is forthcoming at Jet Fuel Review, Pith, Freezeray, So to Speak, Entropy, Right Hand Pointing, Chiron Review, Cider Press Review and decomP.